Japan will buy islands claimed by China - Spokesman
JAPAN: The Japanese government will buy three islands at the
centre of bitter territorial row with China, a spokesman said Monday
after a cabinet meeting. “During the ministerial meeting today, we
agreed that we will obtain the ownership of the three Senkaku islands as
quickly as possible,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told
reporters, using the Japanese name for what China calls Diaoyu.
Fujimura said the government reached an accord with the Japanese
landowners last Friday, but refused to reveal what price had been set.
Media reports have put the deal at 2.05 billion yen ($26 million).
The decision to purchase the islands, which will be formally owned by
Japan's Coast Guard, was aimed at their “quiet and stable maintenance”,
he added.
“We have confirmed the intention (to finalise the deal) with the
three parties, including the Tokyo government. In terms of signing the
contract, it's still in the future tense,” he said.
Tokyo's nationalistic governor Shintaro Ishihara had vowed to
purchase the island chain, which he said should be developed to protect
the integrity of Japanese sovereignty.
Beijing and Taipei both claim the archipelago, which sits on an
important shipping lane and is believed to harbour valuable resources.
AFP |